Hope Church's Church
7.5.26 Sunday Morning Worship
  • Nobody
  • Jesus Strong And Kind

      • Matthew 15:21-22ESV

      • Matthew 15:23-25ESV

      • Matthew 15:26-28ESV

      • Matthew 15:29-30ESV

      • Matthew 15:31ESV

      • Matthew 15:32-33ESV

      • Matthew 15:34-36ESV

      • Matthew 15:37-39ESV

  • Intro

    I love the parables. As the help us understand what God is doing in the Kingdom, and our place in it.
    We continue in the parables in Matthew 13. This is the last parable for a bit, and then we will jump back into the narrative of Matthew.
    While the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, share multiple stories, parables, and teachings, these parables here are exclusive to what Matthew, under the Holy Spirit, included from Jesus’s teachings. The others left it out.
    Interestingly, these parables are told without explanation. Jesus assumes, based on the other parables, and his explanation of them, and his teaching thus far, that we, and his disciples, would be able to understand them.
    I have a friend who lived with us in Colorado, but Erika and I. Way up in the UP. You think our winters are long and cold here, they have nothing on a UP winter.
    I was able to see my friend Dustin come to faith in Jesus from Catholicism. He and I would snow board together as much as we could, and talk about Jesus on the chair lift. I was able to see him get married, find a good secure job, connect to the church, have children. He and his wife at one goal, to homestead. This is the goal of many millennials my age. But it wasn’t just a goal for them, it was everything for them.
    They lived like nobodies in order to pursue this goal. They lived in their cheap junkie Astro van in the dead of winter. They lived off of no food. They both worked as many hours as they could, multiple jobs, while still prioritizing Sunday morning church.
    They were some of the cheapest people I’ve ever known, but they lived cheap to save. Neither of them come from wealthy families, everything they lived on was what they made.
    But because of it, they bought 40 acres, a house, cows, chickens, and everything else that goes with that. And not they put a down payment on it, they own it outright. He is there homesteading for real and actively apart of church ministry there.
    We look at them, and for millennials buying anything in this economy, of their own hard earned money, so glad for them.
    But the path to get there was not easier. It was daily suffering multiple jobs, and freezing in a van on an uncomfortable bed at night, eating minimally. Their daily choices were made in light of what they valued most.
    This is what the parables we focus on today are about. Matthew has been about discipleship. Discipleship language.
    Jesus has been showing us what his disciples look like and what they do. Today, here is the main point.
    MAIN POINT: Since Jesus has given us the gospel, we count all other pursuits as nothing compared to the joy of pursuing Christ.
    When we think about what is the gospel, I want to be very clear on this topic. I’ve asked a few of you what is the gospel this week and have been joyful to hear your responses and you making clear what it is.
    The gospel is this very simply and narrowly,
    1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NET 2nd ed.
    1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures,
    What is the gospel? The death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ by which we are being saved.
    This is the pin point which all of us should know.
    If i woke you up in the middle of the night and said “what is the gospel” half awake, i want you to say “The Gospel is the good news that We are saved from sin by the death burial and resurrection of Jesus.”
    Can you save yourself from sins guilt and punishment? Your answer would be “NO”
    If those are your answers, I’ll let you fall back to sleep.
    The gospel is something that is simple enough for a 2 year old to understand, Ask Adyline, and so complex that theological minds continue to wrestle through. Even the angels long to look into God’s salvation of mankind.
    Again, this 1 Corinthians 15 gospel is the lazer focus microscope view of the gospel. This is every cell looked at under a microscope. But I want us to zoom out, and see how this cell of the gospel effects and works itself out in our lives.
    Jesus is frequently talking about the gospel of the Kingdom. He is preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
    And what is the gospel of the kingdom according to Jesus? God is reigning in his son the Messiah, we humans must submit to his rule in faith and repentance.
    To be clear, this is not a different gospel, or a different gospel than that of the old testament. This is a consistent gospel from the beginning of time. God’s grace which results in our faith and repentance.
    We might understand the redemption aspect of the gospel more broadly. This is what one of you said this week:
    “The gospel is the work that Jesus (HE ) did for me and all of man kind, of making a way for all to receive eternal salvation by His work on the cross and death and resection. We all can repent of our sins and turn from our wicked ways to a life saved by grace.” -HC disciple.
    We might say that this is the big picture Gospel:
    God, who is Holy, created the world, us included, good. We have sinned against him and fall short of living up to his holy glory. Our sins separate us from God both in this life and the one to come. But Jesus came to secure a way for us to live in relation to God. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, he took our sin, our guilt, our punishment on himself, in our place, gave us his righteousness, and rose so that we would have new life, abundant life, eternal life with God both in this life and the life to come. In response, we continually repent of sin and live out the change he has done in our hearts for the Glory of God as we conform to the image of Christ.
    We have contributed nothing to our salvation except the sin that made it necessary. Salvation is God’s work of redemption. But God’s work secures us, and then continues to work in us as we live more conformed to what he has called us to everyday.
    I might sometimes say “Live out the Gospel.” What I mean by that is NOT that you earn your salvation, because we can’t! I mean that you should live out the change God has done in your heart.
    With that gospel clarification, lets jump into the text today.

    I. Solely Treasure Christ. v44

    First, solely treasure Christ.
    Look at verse 44. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure.
    This parable is the central parable in the seven parables, unless you want to see 8, but i don’t think there is 8 which makes this parable the middle point.
    Jesus saying that the kingdom of heaven, and how we relate to it, calling us to action, looks like treasure hidden treasure in a field.
    Notice how it is hidden. Remember previously in this chapter, that Jesus is revealing what is hidden through parables. The Mysteries of God and our part in them are not being revealed.
    And for us, this revealing is treasure.
    Some people think hidden treasure in a field would have been more likely to be found than today. Because they didn’t have banks. The banking system was to put coins and valuables in a jar and burry it. Maybe this individual was a worker in the field and stumbled upon it. But then and today, to find a treasure in a field would have been a once in a thousand lifetimes opportunity.
    Somehow, the current land owner doesn’t know this treasure is there, maybe it was left there from previous generations.
    What is the point? Only those who have made Jesus their highest priority enjoy the blessing of what Jesus is offering.
    If you are willing to count everything as loss for the sake of our savior, if you are willing to loose everything for his sake, then you have found treasure.
    "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose” -Jim Elliot
    And notice, this pursuit, and sacrifice is with joy. Joyfully the individual in the parable sells all that he has in order to gain the treasure. It is a joy for us to sacrifice for Christ. Not because of what we have earned, but what we have received in Christ.
    Sacrificing for Christ is a delight because of the gospel.
    It is true that the kingdom is available to us only by grace through faith; but genuine faith means genuinely embracing and yielding to God’s reign, not simply acknowledging it and then passing it by as if it did not exist. The kingdom is a treasure, and those who really believe it will sacrifice everything else in their lives for its agendas.
    To preach that a simple sinners prayer with out repentance and submission to God’s reign is to ignore Jesus’s teaching. Also, if we only ever lead people in the sinners prayer, we have failed at the great commission. What does Jesus want us to do right now?
    Go into all the world and make converts. No! Jesus says to go make disciples, baptizing, teaching to obey everything Jesus told us.
    To embrace the gospel does not mean that I get to keep on living the way I want to, it means submitting to Jesus and his authority. Making him Lord over everything in my life.
    This is why he calls us to die daily, Paul would also say this same idea.
    Galatians 2:20 NET 2nd ed.
    20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
    In response faithfulness of Christ, who loved me and gave himself up for me, I lay down my life to follow him.
    Jesus has already talked about treasure. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Where is your treasure? What do you need to give up in order to truly treasure Christ?

    II. Singularly Pursue Christ v45-46

    Next, we see in verses 45-46 that we are to singularly pursue Christ.
    These two parables are making the same point. It is hard to see them as different. I laid them side by side this week, anylized them for a long time. Then read a bunch on the differences, and the differences are not significant enough to make a main point difference. In both, there is a valued possession to receive.
    I’m going to come out of the gate and tell you there are different interpretations of what the pearl is. You might be familiar with the book called “The Pearl of Great Price” which is named after this verse. I wouldn’t recommend this book to pursue this concept more. The Church of Latter Day Saints has intentionally labeled this book, one of five key sacred texts, the pearl of great price. Why? To communicate that the new revelation and gospel that was lost has been restored by Joseph Smith. The pearl is the restored false Gospel of Joseph Smith. So the intent is for you to give up what ever pearl of faith you have found for the pearl of Joseph Smith. In this book, you will find an polytheism, the humanity of God the Father, how humans existed before creation, and a positive reinterpretation of Adam’s Fall, and a salvation that is based on individual good works and personal merit.
    Another interpretation would be that the pearl is us, and Jesus is the merchant who gives up all other pearls of pursuits to sacrifice for us.
    While i love the grace in this interpretation, I believe this is reading Paul into Matthew, and inconsistent with the rest of what Jesus has been communicating about kingdom living and discipleship.
    Think in Jesus’s teaching thus far in Matthew. Jesus has been focused on what it looks like to be a disciple. How do we follow Jesus?
    So to be consistent, the pearl and the treasure are Jesus and his kingdom that he has secured for us to be a part of.
    Both parables are about enthusiastic and whole-hearted commitment. Selling everything for the sake of the one thing.
    While the last parable was about treasure in general, this treasure is specifically about a pearl.
    Pearls for us are more commonplace with synthetic pearls, or pearls farms. Pearls in Bible times would have been an extravagant display of wealth. Pursuing pearls would be a much more difficult job then than it would be today.
    When we think of pursuing pearls, we ought to think of the gates of heaven as pearls as they are mentioned in Revelation.
    In the first parable, the kingdom of heaven is the hidden treasure. In this one, the kingdom of heaven is like the pursuit of a great treasure. This is the biggest difference in these two parables.
    The merchant is searching for fine pearls, probably has some of them. But he finds this one pearl, and knows it is of greater value than all he has found put together. So he sells and gives up everything he has to have this one pearl.
    In both stories, there is a costly giving up for the gospel. But once you understand the kingdom of heaven in Jesus, nothing else compares to it’s value.
    Philippians 3:8 ESV
    8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
    Paul is using a harsh word here to say all things he counts as dung compared to our relationship with Christ as our Lord. And notice, not Jesus as friend, but Jesus as Lord. I submit in my relationship to him.
    We may feel like there are a lot of other things in our lives to pursue. And this Jesus seems to small. Look at all this other stuff we could be pursing.
    The culture around us tells us that abundant life is found in pursuing my career. Money. Vacations and Travel. Fitness. Family. Relationships. My own happiness. You can pursue all of this stuff. But these are small pearls.
    Do you want to know what is more precious than anything else you could pursue? What is more valuable than anything else? It’s Jesus! Will we give up what we think is precious in our lives to pursue what is really precious?
    There may be sin that we hold on to. A close sin that we treasure and think we need in our lives. An addiction that Jesus is asking us to give up in order to have the treasure of him more fully. What self defined valuable pearls do you need to give up in order to pursue what God has called the Pearl of Great Price?

    III. Securely Caught by Christ v47-50

    Next, we see securely caught by Christ in verses 47-50.
    This is the seventh parable in this section. And you will note that it is very similar to the wheat and the tares.
    In this parable, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that gathers fish of every kind. But when the net is brought in, fish are sorted. Some for use, some for destruction.
    There is not half in half out. You cannot say “I’ve got a little bad fish and a little good fish in me.” Not really. No one would ever say that unless you were Dr. Sues. One fish, two fish, red fish blue fish, bad fish good fish. But we might say we have a little yin and a little yang in us.
    You are either the bad fish or the good fish. At the time sorting, it will be obvious. You might look the same for a while, you may fool your family, your friends, your church, but eventually, at sorting, it will be obvious.
    In the sea of Galillle, there are some twenty plus fish. Most of which you can eat. But a few bad ones you can’t, or would have been prohibited by Jewish law like eels and catfish.
    Again this idea with the wheat and the tares and the good fish and the bad fish. Both allowed to exist together until the end of the age.
    The intention of the net is being caught to be part of the kingdom of God. While God is changing the world through his son Jesus, some will not be on board. Some wont be part. The net is intended for salvation, but the bad ones don’t get cast out, they get burned.
    This is harsh language and just a bad practice with fishing. You are supposed to throw back the fish you don’t want to eat, not burn them. But Jesus is serious of removing what is bad.
    Remember For the Fiery Furnace, Daniel 3:6 might be in mind here. That all those who do not give God glory will be cast into the fire. Those who are not aligned with the purpose of the net are judged. If you are unwilling to see the Kingdom of heaven with great value, and treasure it with your life, this destruction will be your end.
    While the bad fish might fool some, they will not fool Jesus. Jesus’s angels will seperate out the bad fish. The ones not living submitted to Jesus’s kingdom.
    This makes me think of Hebrews 4:11-13
    Hebrews 4:11–13 NET 2nd ed.
    11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
    We have already seen this in Matthew 7. The ones who continue in sin are cast into eternal fire. The ones living in disobedience and unconformity to Christ will perish.
    It is good for us to assess our own lives in light of this text and hebrews. This is what the Word preached to you today is meant to do. For us to assess our own lives, and not just our actions, but our thoughts and heart intents.
    If Christ has changed us and saved us, our lives should be living with him as Lord, and us treasuring him, and pursing him.

    IV. Successfully Sharing of Christ 51-52

    Verses 51-52 become the close for this section. We see successfully sharing of Christ in these verses.
    Jesus asks his disciples in verse 51, have you understood all these things?
    Jesus is God. He knows their thoughts and hearts. He doesn’t need to ask them this question. But he does in order for them to search inwardly and change in light of the truth presented. We also as Jesus’s disciples should be asking ourselves. Have we understood? have we applied the truths learned in these 7 parables.
    And the disciples answer is yes. Have they understood fully? Maybe. Maybe not. We know they were imperfect and flawed men, unqualified for the task that Jesus called them to. But do you want to know what made them qualified? That they were willing to submit their lives to Jesus and value him above all else.
    We know that the disciples continue throughout the gospels to show their imperfection, their lack of understanding, and their mistakes.
    But we are encouraged by this too. That we as Jesus’s disciples respond with Yes, we understand, but also realize that we are on the road. Sanctification, growth in the knowledge of God, our relationship with Jesus, our conformity to the image of Christ as the Spirit calls us, is a journey now, a destination someday.
    We submit to Jesus day by day, moment by moment. Looking to Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith.
    Like we said the gospel is clear enough for a 2 year old to understand. But deep enough that it’s continual work will effect our lives for the rest of our life.
    I was saved at a young age. I’m thankful that God rescued me in my sinful state. Mike talked Wednesday about total depravity. I wasn’t the most evil kid doing all of the most evil things, but I was a sinner, completely hopeless at being good to God’s standards. I needed a savior. I believed in Jesus’s death and resurrection to save me from sin and the punishment of hell’s fires. I know at that moment, only in God’s grace, I was saved. But today, 30 years latter, i understand the gospel more fully, more richely, more deeply and see how it has changed my life. And if I make it to 80, i hope to say the same thing. That at 80, God has allowed me in his grace to understand the greatness, the riches, and the glory of the treasure of Christ more fully in my life.
    Then we get to verse 52. Some see this as an eight parable. I might just call it a simile.
    Matthew 13:52 ESV
    52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
    This is a confusing comparison that Jesus brings up.
    If you want to call this a parable, it is the first one in this chapter that is not about the kingdom of heaven, it is about the ones who have been trained for the kingdom. The emphasis is different here. It is on the trained ones, not the kingdom.
    Who are the scribes Jesus is talking about here? Remember in verse 36 that Jesus has turned his discussion away from the crowds and is speaking to his disciples. So whatever he is saying, must be about discipleship.
    Jesus has not spoken favorable toward scribes, neither has John. But, this is a different type of scribe. And alternative scribe if you will. One that has been trained for the kingdom.
    Up to this point, when you are thinking about the treasure seeker and the merchant, you might be wondering if this is a works based religion?
    But Matthew 13:52 is key. Notice the text. The scribe who has been trained. Notice the passive tense used here. The scribe who has recieved training. Or received the knowledge that Jesus has presented him. This points us all the way back to Jesus’s purpose of parables back in verse 11. To Jesus’s disciples, this knowledge has been given.
    Odd Jesus would call his disciples scribes. But what do scribes do? At Jesus’s time, scribes functioned as the authority to reveal the kingdom of God to others. This was the scribal function. They knew the Word of God better than anyone, and were called upon to reveal God’s truth to others.
    Remember early on in Matthew when the wisemen search for Jesus and talk to Herod. Who does Harod call on? The scribes. They were needed to determine God’s plan for the world and the Messiah. They are not just writers, they are not just theological interpreters, they are teachers.
    But we, as Jesus’s new alternative scribes, are given authority to now be revealing the gospel of Jesus to others. We do this both in lifestyle and in our words. Being transformed by the gospel of Jesus, we now join him in fulfilling the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the old, he came to fulfill it in a new way. We join him in this task, not because of what we have done, but because of what he has already done.
    Notice the focus of the old and the new. Unlike the original scribes, we have been trained, in the new. The new plan of God being revealed to us. But not just the new, we don’t leave the old behind. We don’t unhitch from the Old. We see it as the whole plan of God revealed from the foundations of the earth so that we might glorify our father in heaven as we present his truth to the world.
    So what is the point? That if you have been given this knowledge, what are you going to do with it? How is it going to change you? It’s like a home owner who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.
    Think about our house. Some of you have helped on our house. Some of you have taken a demo hammer to our house. Some have said we should have lit a match. We’ve been chipping away on our home for 1.5 years at this point. Someday, it will be livable. Erika reminds me we are restoring, not renovating. Renovating would look like updating to look modern and with the times. Restoring look like attempting to take it back to what it was. So we have removed the linoleum flooring to show the original floors below. Removed the stainless hardware to put in antique brass. removed the modern bath surround to put in older looking tile. It is a slow and painful process. But, we are updating as well. We removed the heat system that was burst and old to put more efficient heat pumps in. We removed the dangerous knob and tube wiring to put in a safer wiring system with an updated panel. Someday, we will live in this house. We look forward to it. And we will know, we have recieved a treasure. And I can’t wait for all of you all to come over. And want to know what we will have? To us, it will be treasure. And we will want to show you the old and the new that we love and appreciate.
    If you have been given the gift of discipleship, understanding, then it will come out of you as you live it out and teach it to others. This is being salt and light to the world around us.
    We should ask ourselves. As disciples of Jesus, are we presenting and showing off the treasure of Christ that we have been given?

    Beyond the Walls (Grace and Growth)

    If you have not yet accepted Christ and turned from sin, today can be the day of salvation for you. Christianity is not a religion of works. Christianity is a religion of God at work in us. We have sinned against him. We have not come close to meeting his standard of living. But he send his son into the world because of his love for us. His son Jesus accomplished perfectly the standard of living God requires, took our sin to pay for the punishment of our sin, and was raised to new life, giving us life. And now, the free gift of God’s grace is being offered to us. We can have a relationship with Jesus.
    What do we have to do? Earn it? Work for it? No. Accept it in faith and trust him as Lord.
    If Christ has saved you, we should ask ourselves. What are we willing to give up for the gospel, and what are we not willing to give up for the gospel?
    Is our pursuit of Christ filled with Joy? When we count what was once meaningful to us as loss for the sake of following Christ, is it a delight for us?
    What today is standing in the way of you pursuing the Pearl of Kingdom of heaven fully? What is holding you back from seeking the treasure of Jesus whole-heartedly?
    While pursuing Christ might be hard, described as dying to self daily, we know what is promised to us in these parables. At the end, we get to be with God. God rescues us. God tells us that all of difficulty will be worth it. Following Jesus will overshaddow everything. He is a prize and treasure that is worth every cost.
    Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes as we respond to the text together today.
    We might need a min. I want us to respond to the text together today. Let us ask the Spirit of God to search our hearts and reveal what it is we need to give up in order to follow Christ more fully as our treasure.
    Ask Jesus what he might be calling you to in following him.
    Thank God for revealing the truth of the gospel to us and making us part of his plan.

      • Mark 7:19ESV

      • Deuteronomy 7:1–2ESV

      • Isaiah 49:6ESV

      • Hebrews 11:6ESV

  • By Faith
  • Battle Belongs
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